


Haunted Forest

by Pokypup49



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Young Royai, haunted forests, scared Roy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 05:11:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21248006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokypup49/pseuds/Pokypup49
Summary: Roy and Riza get separated in a haunted forest. But Roy doesn't believe in ghosts. So what is chasing him?





	Haunted Forest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RealityBreakGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealityBreakGirl/gifts).

> I do not own any Fullmetal Alchemist characters.

Darkness. The trees, stripped of their once flourishing leaves, creaked eerily in the cold wind that blew threw through them. The yellow crunchy leaves blew across the ground in packs, swirling with a chattering of their dried bodies. If there was ever a scene for a horror movie, the boy was in it. His black hair waved in the breeze as he looked fearfully at his surroundings. The moon was slim and any illumination of even the stars was clouded over. His nose hurt with the cold and he used his sleeve to wipe his nose. "Riza," he called out into the dark. It was not the dark he was afraid of, nor the ghosts whom allegedly ruled the forest at night. Her father’s glare was only spared to those that were dead. Moreover, she knew she could run faster than him and had no quarrel in letting himself worry about her despite her ability to be independent. 

The large branches above him whined as the wind pushed them together. As independent the girl was, she was still a girl and it was still dark. The upcoming wind would prevent her screams for help to travel far and it was no doubt easy enough to fall over a log and break an ankle. Roy shuttered at the thought of Berthold’s rage towards him. The man may not show his affection for his own child, but when it came to her, Roy was her guardian. There’d be a regretful moment or two when Riza was either unaccounted for or had gotten a scratch. “Riza,” he called. “It’s not funny anymore!” 

He shouldn’t have said anything. “I am not scared,” he mocked himself, remembering how he had boasted to her. “Riza!” He looked around. With a heavy sigh, he muttered, “I am terrified of your dad.” He was going to spend all night out there looking for her when she was probably at home warming some cider for herself. The more he slowly made his way through the trees, squinting to stay on the well-traveled path, the more he felt that there were things around him. He swore he could hear things walking next to him, or following behind him, but every time he looked, no one was there. “Riza, are you playing games with me?” No response. “There are no such things as ghosts,” he yelled into the darkness, clearing getting frustrated. “And you can’t change my mind, Riza.” 

A stick broke behind him and Roy whipped around in hopes of catching his teacher’s daughter sneaking up behind him, but the dark hid whomever it was. The wind picked up, deafening his senses. The threes whined louder while the leaves circled and whisked along the path. Shadows within the shadows formed. He barely knew enough alchemy to even help himself at this point. He was useless and he frowned at the idea that he was probably going to be in more trouble for being late. A sound behind him again made him turn his head over his shoulder and his toe caught a rock, letting him stumble down the trail. His body rolled, finally stopping against a log on a bed of leaves. 

“Oww,” he moaned. His hand held his head as he curled into a ball for a few seconds. 

A moan from deep within the forest echoed and the hair on his neck stood on end. Or maybe it was an animal call. Nevertheless, it made the hair on the back of his neck rise and the blood from his heart pump harder. His adrenaline kicked in as he sat up and listened to the leaves chattering at his feet. If it was an animal, it could harm Riza. “Riza,” he called out into the darkness again. The wind only drowned out his voice. To his left, Roy swore he heard something walking, but he couldn’t see anything. His young black eyes peered, straining into the dark, in hopes of seeing anything. His body felt stiff and he slowly rose, never turning from that direction. At least on his feet he’d have a fighting chance if it was a wolf or wild dog of some sort. A rustle of leaves to his right caused him to pivot sharply, hoping to see Riza, but nothing. “It better not be dogs.” They’d be hunting him. “Riza!” 

First, he needed to get out of the woods. He needed to be somewhere he could at least distinguish his surroundings. “There are no ghosts,” he repeated to himself. “There are no ghosts.” Admitting he was being hunted wasn’t easy either. He hiked back to the trail, brushing his knees of the dirt. Each step was slow and with each step, he swore he could hear an off upsetting of the general pattern of the wind’s sounds. It wasn’t the wind. He would swear it wasn’t the wind. But logic fought against his instinct, reminding him there were no such things as ghosts and his mind was simply making things up. The sound rushed up behind him, Roy spinning and bracing in a fighting position. Nothing but darkness. “There are no such things as ghosts.” 

Time was slow, almost agonizingly. “At the rate I’m going, I will probably reach the Hawkeye estate in the morning,” he muttered. “She better be there. I’m going to kick her ass, so help me.” He glared into the darkness, stepping carefully over what he could see. The scampering through the leaves rustled by him and he stopped again to look. “Riza,” he called out at the sound. “I know it’s you! You’re not scaring me!” His hands clenched into fists. They shook angrily at his sides, but there was no sound in return. “If you don’t come out here, I’m going to tell your dad everything!” He didn’t like playing that card, but he was tired of her antics. Besides being a dog, it’d only make sense that it was her. 

Roy could only make out the dark outlines of trees, the nipping cold from the northerly wind tore through his jacket and made his skin shiver. “I”m not even going to share my hot cocoa,” he grumbled angrily. “You hear that?” He called into the dark. “I’m not sharing my cocoa with you!” A loud moan roared through the forest. The bare trees around him creaked in response. But Roy was frozen to the ground for other reasons than the cold. Dog and wolves didn’t moan. Trees did if the wind blew hard enough, but that moan did not creak and whine like swaying branches. Goosebumps rippled up his arms to the base of his hairline. 

His steps grew quicker, faster as he tried to now escape the forest. He stumbled and tripped a few times, still looking over his shoulder. It was running after him, he could hear it. But he could not see it. He could only hear it. His imagination toyed with him as he started to see a werewolf of sorts, a giant beast that hungered for the young lad’s flesh. But ghosts were not real, he continued to argue with himself. “This isn’t real,” he breathed. There certainly was a logical reason for this madness. His imagination argued. The ghost of the forest was lurking near, and though Roy could not imagine what a ghost would want with him, it was surely out to get him. It was the first time in his life that Roy was beginning to believe in ghosts. The quick exhale of white into the cold grew closer and closer together as he tried to speed up his steps. 

His imagination must have been on a roll because he swore he could hear the dog’s breath behind him, panting as it jogged easily behind him. He could feel the hot breath rolling onto his shoulders, but every time he turned around, there was nothing there. “There are no such things as ghosts,” he yelled into the darkness. Just because he yelled the truth to himself, did not mean it was the truth of the forest. He looked up to see the lights through the trees. He was almost free of the confinement. He needed to shake off the illogical scenario that was plaguing his mind. A burst of light laughter in the leaves made Roy turn again. “Riza?” 

His heel stumbled over an exposed root, and he fell back, landing roughly on his rump. He looked up as he scanned the darkness for his tormentor. His heartbeat rapidly in his chest, pounding against his ribs. A cold sweat dripped from his brow and ran down the bridge of his nose. “You’re not real,” he told the ghost as he screamed into the dark. “You can’t hurt me if you’re not real!” 

“I am too,” a girl’s voice answered over his shoulder. 

Roy screamed as he jumped forward. On his hands and knees, he scrambled away before turning in hopes of actually seeing someone. 

Riza stood with a wide Cheshire grin, hands on her hips and she stood over him. “I thought you said you didn’t get scared?” She mocked as she started to laugh. 

“I don’t. You startled me,” he answered, trying his best to cover up the truth. 

“You were running,” she laughed. 

“So it was you!” 

She nodded. “Don’t tell me you actually thought it was a ghost,” she snickered as she leaned forward. 

“No,” he sniffled and wiped his nose of the snot the cold produced. “I’m just cold.” 

She slapped her knee and turned to lead the way out. “So are you going to tell my dad that you were tricked by his stupid daughter or that you believed in a ghost?” 

“Neither,” he cried out. “I’m going to tell him you took off and left me in the dark.” 

“Because Big Boy Roy can’t take care of himself in the dark.” She nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll like that answer better.” 

Roy fumed as he stomped behind her. 

She turned to smile back at him. “Or you can just tell him that you rescued me.” 

“I doubt he’d believe that…” 

“Maybe as much as he believes in ghosts….” 

Roy woke up from his daydream as his subordinates came screaming into his office. “It’s haunted,” they cried out. 

Fuery nodded quickly, sweat pouring from his hairline. “The warehouse thirteen! It really exists!” 

“It’s all haunted!” 

He rolled his eyes as he looked down at his paper. They continued going on, rambling about their nightmare of a walk. It wasn’t until the door opened that he looked up to see his lieutenant walk through the door. 

“Something happen to you, Boys?”

“They claim to have seen the fabled warehouse thirteen,” he answered for them. “Idiots.” 

Through their bickering, Roy looked up to see Riza lift her head and put her finger on her chin. She held the same look all those years ago. And as he watched her remain calm, listening to them, staring at him with the same humorous look as she did when they were children, he had to roll them away. “Did you ever stop to think that it’s because you live in this state of fear that you imagine seeing things?” 

Riza behind his men smirked. He could see her just mocking them as if saying, “Yes sir. It is because of that.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Roy.


End file.
